I. INTRODUCTION
1. If someone were to ask, “Why are you a Christian?” could you give he or she a meaningful answer? What effect has accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior had on you?
2. We aren’t looking for the textbook answer herenot a memorized versesomething that will stir the heart of an unbeliever!
A. Little wonder that leading people to Christ is so difficult. If Christians can’t explain the benefit of salvation and justification by faith, why should anyone else care? Those who long for revival in the church do well to consider these questions.
B. Many so-called experts suggest that in order to bring people to Christ we must water down the message, making it more palatable to the unchurched ear. I disagree. I believe anyone who seeks God and His Word will understand it; without watering it down.
C. Apparently, Paul believes this too. We join him this morning as he summarizes his discourse on justification. In a few short paragraphs, he explains the benefits of justification, God’s unconditional love for mankind, and the eschatological hope we have in Christ.
3. If you avoid sharing your faith because you can’t answer the questions I’ve posed, you’re going to love what Paul has to say today. OYBT Romans 5.
[We are not asked to convert othersGod alone savesour responsibility is to share with others the way God’s glory affects us. We have a story to tell!]
II. THE BENEFITS OF JUSTIFICATION (5:1-5a)
1. We have peace with God: not simply the peace of God (though valuable). Not a subjective feeling of peace, but the objective fact that the justified (saved) are no longer enemies of Godwe are at peace with him. This is huge in light of 1:18 (Can’t remember? Join me there).
A. The justified person is no longer tormented by questions of his relationship with God arising from the fact that he is a sinner. Sinner though he is, he is at peace with God because of what God has done for him through Christ.
B. We gain access to God’s gracemeans we receive a gift we are not entitled to receive.
Following the Civil War, a dejected Confederate soldier was sitting outside the grounds of the White House. A young boy approached him and inquired why he was so sad.
The soldier related how he had repeatedly tried to see President Lincoln to tell him he was unjustly deprived of certain lands in the South following the war. On each occasion, as he attempted to enter the White House, the guards crossed their bayoneted guns in front of the door and turned him away.
The boy motioned to the soldier to follow him. When they approached the guarded entrance, the soldiers came to attention, stepped back, and opened the door for the boy. He proceeded to the library where the president was resting and introduced the soldier to his father. The boy was Tad Lincoln. The soldier had gained access (audience) with the president through the president’s son.
How much more should we rejoice in our access to the grace of the King of kings!
C. This scandal of grace (as you have heard me say before) is hard to swallow in this age of over-motivated, performance driven, success minded people.
D. Ask an unbeliever this question: “If you died today, where would you spend eternity? On what basis would you spend it there?”
2. We rejoice in our future hope: our confidence is in God; not ourselves. Therefore, it does not falter, fail or weaken with the passage of time.
A. This is joy; not happiness. Happiness is contingent on circumstancesa new job, success in something you have pursued, good health, etc. When the exhilaration of these events passes, so does the happiness they bring.
B. Remember the last thing that made you happy? Do you still get giddy thinking about it?
C. Paul says that rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God leads allows our joy to thrive even in sufferingnow hold on, PaulI should rejoice in suffering?
D. Christians know that even in suffering, God is in complete control of our lives. In fact, God sometimes uses suffering to build character in us. With this knowledge, we turn away from ourselves and turn to God in times of distress. That’s part of his design.
III. GOD’S UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR MANKIND (5b-8)
1. God has poured out his love in our hearts: The verb is in the perfect tense, meaning the pouring out began at a point in time and continues in the present. Poured out signifies abundance.
2. There is no measure adequate to describe the measure of love God pours out in out hearts (not into as NIV says, but in). This implies his indwelling in our hearts by the Holy Spirit that has been given to us: not earned, given.
3. God’s love (translated agape’), means unconditional love originating solely from the giver and independent of any merit from the recipient. It is not conditional love, love “if”; not earned love, love “because of”; but unwarranted love, love “in spite of”.
IV. OUR ESCHATALOGICAL HOPE IN CHRIST (9-11)
1. We were once enemies of God, under his wrath (1:18)
2. We are now justified through Christ’s blood on the cross.
3. We have been reconciled to God because he gave his Son to die for our sins.
A. To reconcile means to put an end to hostility. Man’s hostility to God. Not vice-versa.
B. Paul concludes that if we can be justified while we are enemies of God, imagine how much more, being reconciled to him, is our future salvation! Are you getting this?
C. Our hope for the future is not blind faith; it is reasonable faith based on what God has done and continues to do in our behalf!
[We are not asked to convert othersGod alone savesour responsibility is to share with others the way God’s glory affects us. We have a story to tell!]
V. CONCLUSION: WE”VE A STORY TO TELL!
1. In the first few chapters Paul taught of God’s wrath against the unrighteous and self righteous, His plan to redeem mankind, and now the effects of justification in the believer.
2. When others ask, “Why are you a Christian?”, how will you respond in light of this study?
T.H. Huxley, a well-known agnostic, was with a group of men at a weekend house party. On Sunday morning, while most of them were preparing to go to church, he approached a man known for his Christian character and said, "Suppose you stay at home and tell my why you are a Christian."
The man, knowing he couldn't match wits with Huxley, hesitated. But the agnostic said gently, "I don't want to argue with you. I just want you to tell me simply what this Christ means to you." The man did, and when he finished, there were tears in Huxley's eyes as he said, "I would give my right hand if only I could believe that!"
[We are not asked to convert othersGod alone savesour responsibility is to share with others the way God’s glory affects us. We have a story to tell!]
